DETECTION OF AVIAN ENCEPHALOMYELITIS VIRAL-ANTIGEN WITH A MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY

A monoclonal antibody (MAb), designated VR9-1, prepared against avian encephalomyelitis virus (AEV) reacted with the embryo-adapted strain, Van Roekel, two vaccine and two field strains in indirect immunofluore scent and immunoperoxidase staining of frozen sections of chicken brai n, chicken embryo fibroblast and brain cells inoculated with each viru s. The MAb was also used as a detector in avidin-biotin-peroxidase sta ining in paraffin sections where results indicate that it recognized a common epitope among strains of AEV and may be useful for detection a nd quantitative studies.